Marc Maron

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Marc Maron" Episode of "Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (sometimes)"

Release Date: March 26, 2025
Guests: Marc Maron
Hosts: Ted Danson & Woody Harrelson (occasionally)
Duration: Approximately 60 minutes

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1. Introduction to Marc Maron and His Work

Timestamp: [00:16] - [01:34]

Ted Danson opens the episode by welcoming Marc Maron, lauding his extensive work as the host of the renowned podcast WTF with Marc Maron, which boasts over 1600 episodes featuring diverse guests such as Barack Obama, Robin Williams, and Anthony Bourdain. Ted highlights Marc's unique ability to blend humor with profound topics like aging and death, mentioning his latest comedy special, From Bleak to Dark.

Notable Quote:
Ted Danson [00:35]: "One of Marc's special powers is how he can weave humor with aging and death."

2. Sobriety, Truth, and Personal Integrity

Timestamp: [01:34] - [03:12]

The conversation delves into the themes of sobriety and the importance of honesty. Ted playfully suggests Marc should consider running for office, citing Marc's commitment to truth and lack of secrets as ideal traits for a political figure. Marc reflects on the challenges of maintaining honesty, especially in the realm of sobriety, where personal stories are both a source of strength and vulnerability.

Notable Quote:
Marc Maron [02:37]: "Anyone who is sober has got some stories and some of those stories... I don't need them brought up."

3. Navigating Grief and Loss

Timestamp: [03:12] - [10:15]

Marc shares the heart-wrenching experience of losing his partner, Lynn, during the COVID-19 pandemic. He discusses the suddenness of her illness, the complexities of grief, and the challenges of processing such a loss without closure. Ted reciprocates by sharing his own experiences with the loss of his parents, emphasizing the universal yet deeply personal nature of grief.

Notable Quotes:
Marc Maron [07:09]: "The loss of somebody you love is just shattering."
Ted Danson [10:01]: "I cannot imagine losing her suddenly out of the blue."

4. Reflections on Death and the Afterlife

Timestamp: [10:15] - [26:15]

The dialogue shifts to philosophical musings on death, spirituality, and the afterlife. Marc expresses skepticism about conventional beliefs, favoring a more scientific perspective on energy and existence. Ted, on the other hand, entertains the idea of energy persisting beyond death but underscores the importance of living authentically regardless of one's beliefs about the afterlife.

Notable Quotes:
Ted Danson [31:03]: "Here’s my point, though. It doesn't fucking matter."
Marc Maron [26:11]: "I'd prefer not to go out slowly as my mind goes away."

5. The Craft of Acting and Personal Endeavors

Timestamp: [26:15] - [54:08]

Marc delves into his experiences with acting, discussing his challenges and growth in the field. He recounts his role in improv-based projects and shares anecdotes about preparing for specific roles, such as adopting a Texan accent for a film. Ted shares his own acting journey, highlighting the dedication and vulnerability required to portray authentic characters.

Notable Quotes:
Marc Maron [37:16]: "But you're pretty good."
Ted Danson [40:10]: "You're an actor. You know, you can do podcasts all you want. You're an actor."

6. Exploring Spirituality and Mysticism

Timestamp: [54:08] - [59:59]

The hosts explore themes of spirituality, mysticism, and the intersection of science and belief. Marc discusses his Jewish upbringing and his ambiguous stance on religious doctrines, while Ted shares his interactions with mediums and his belief in the persistence of energy post-death. They debate concepts like the Law of Attraction and the idea of creating one's reality through energy.

Notable Quotes:
Marc Maron [27:54]: "I don't think that’s spiritual. I just think... we've limited ourselves by the context of civilization."
Ted Danson [31:23]: "You've got to wake up and live today and try to be nice to people."

7. The World of Podcasting and Personal Connections

Timestamp: [59:59] - [60:12]

Marc and Ted reflect on the podcasting world, with Ted expressing admiration for Marc's ability to conduct deep and meaningful conversations. Marc shares his approach to podcasting, emphasizing preparation and genuine curiosity about his guests, which contrasts with Ted's more spontaneous questioning style.

Notable Quotes:
Marc Maron [43:15]: "I have these very focused, you know, engaged conversations with amazing artists and people."
Ted Danson [59:53]: "I really admire you and I'm really grateful that you came."

8. Closing Thoughts and Final Reflections

Timestamp: [60:12] - [61:08]

As the episode wraps up, Ted and Marc exchange heartfelt compliments and reflections on their friendship and mutual respect. They acknowledge the vulnerability and depth of their conversation, highlighting the unique bond they share despite their different career paths and personalities.

Notable Quotes:
Marc Maron [60:05]: "That means a lot to me."
Ted Danson [60:12]: "Thanks, man."

---

Key Takeaways:

• Authenticity and Honesty: Both Marc and Ted emphasize the importance of living truthfully and being open about personal struggles, especially in the context of sobriety and grief.

• Grief Processing: The discussion offers a raw and honest exploration of dealing with unexpected loss, highlighting the complexities and individual nature of grief.

• Philosophical Insights: The hosts delve into deep philosophical questions about life, death, and what lies beyond, presenting contrasting yet complementary viewpoints.

• Artistic Pursuits: Insight into Marc's acting journey sheds light on the challenges and joys of transitioning from podcasting to acting, while Ted shares his own experiences in the entertainment industry.

• Podcasting Depth: Marc's approach to podcasting as a form of meaningful conversation contrasts with traditional entertainment, showcasing the medium's potential for depth and connection.

Recommendation:
This episode is a profound and engaging conversation that navigates through personal loss, philosophical musings, and the intricacies of artistic expression. Listeners interested in deep, honest dialogues about life's most challenging aspects will find this episode both enlightening and comforting.

Transcript

[Firehouse Subs]

Firehouse Subs is partnered with Hot ones. Grab the zesty garlic hook and ladder with crispy garlic chips and the spicy dill hook and ladder with Last Dab Reaper marinated pickles only at Firehouse subs. Individuals sensitive to spice of the Carolina Reaper pepper should not consume the spicy dill hook and ladder. Limited time at participating Firehouse Subs restaurants.

[Marc Maron]

I. I hope you're prepared because I'm a notoriously difficult interview. I don't know if you know that.

[Ted Danson]

Oh, no, I don't. But that's. That's very exciting for me.

[Marc Maron]

You gotta stay on it.

[Ted Danson]

Welcome back to where everybody knows your name. Today I'm joined by an actor, comedian, and one of the godfathers of podcasting, Marc Maron. He's been the host of WTF with Marc Maron since 2009, and in that time he's talked with pretty much everyone. I mean, everyone. His 1600 plus episodes have included guests like Barack Obama, Robin Williams, Anthony Bourdain, Ted Danson. I know, I know what I did. I slipped it in there. I'm aware of that. Anyway, one of Mark's special powers is how he can weave humor with aging and death. That's actually the subject of his most recent comedy special, From Bleak to Dark. Thrilled to have him on this show. Here he is. Marc marathon. So I. I literally had this thought of, you should run for office.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. I don't know.

[Ted Danson]

I. I'm sure it would suck for you personally, but you. My brain went like this.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Sobriety.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Which means you're familiar with wanting to tell the truth and.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Ted Danson]

Not have secrets and all of that stuff. You have balls of steel because you're a stand up and that means you're going to step up and you don't really care. You do a little about what people think.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

You're willing to take shots and still hold true to your. Whatever it is, your belief system or whatever.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

And that's so rare nowadays that I went. Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

The idea of running for politics in the culture that we live in now, you know, sobriety, fine. Secrets. You know, in sobriety, you've worked through a lot of stuff and some of that, you know, you tell your sponsor or you tell the, the people that you're supposed to. And, and those things are you. Anyone who is sober has got some stories and some of those stories. Yeah. I don't need them brought up.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And. And I hate to. To say, like, you know, I'm sorry, Ted, but I. I just, I don't Want to be part of it because I'm too nervous.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, but that's my truth. Or even worse. Yeah, you know.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, but, you know, I'll speak out on stage and on my podcast and I, and I tend to feel a certain amount of pride in being a voice for people who might not have one. But it's usually around, you know, depression and, you know, sort of moving through life with the obstacles of being emotionally hobbled or psychologically frail.

[Ted Danson]

What do you mean? Well, I just knocked.

[Marc Maron]

Well, I mean, you know, you come from a certain world, you have certain parents, and there are certain ways that you're wired that you're not going to be able to unfuck. And so you kind of live with them and you're sort of like, well, you know, I got some little problems with intimacy and trust and, you know, generally somewhat self centered. So how do I constantly be vigilant around behaving appropriately within the context of whatever I was brought up with?

[Ted Danson]

Right. So, yeah, see that? Even this podcast, I sit there going, oh, shoot, my granddaughters. Oh, I don't know if I, oh, my parents, they're not even alive, but oh, my parents. Yeah, you know, what would. I can't say that. Or I shouldn't do that. I have so many fucking shoulds and should.

[Marc Maron]

I'll throw my parents right under the bus at any opportunity. Yeah, yeah, sure. And I don't have kids or grandkids, so I don't have to worry about that. Yeah, but, but the type of emails I get in terms of what I do generally, you know, outside of, you know, trying to talk about the Israeli conflict, are generally emails like, sir, hey, you helped me through a dark time. Really appreciate it. I got sober because of you.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, big.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, sure. I, you know, recently I got, I've been talking about the colonoscopy on stage and I literally do a PSA to preface the bit I'm like, if you're a guy and you've been told you need one, you know, don't be a baby about your asshole. Just go.

[Ted Danson]

And don't lie because it's kind of enjoyable.

[Marc Maron]

Well, I mean, well, the prostate exam, enjoyable. The colonoscopy, you're basically anally raped by a machine, by professionals while you're sleeping. But it's to see if you have cancer. So do it. Just man up, you know, do it.

[Ted Danson]

It's the day before. That sucks.

[Marc Maron]

Really? Oh, yeah. The bit I do is like, you know, you, you get a prescription, you go to the pharmacist and he puts two bottles on the counter, and he says, don't go outside. And. But oddly, you know, I got a note that was given to another comic that was left backstage for me from a guy who said that because I bro up in the way I brought it up, he finally went, yeah. And they. They found two polyps. I didn't follow up, but he went, yeah, it's not my job to follow up. It's just my job to inspire, Ted. I inspire.

[Ted Danson]

So what if you had to name a philosophy that you have or a point of view that you're trying to get across or maybe you're not at all in your podcast and your standup, what would it be? What do you have? Guard rails that say, I want to. This interests me, so I'll talk about this. But my purpose in talking about this, besides being funny and entertaining, do you have one of those kind of.

[Marc Maron]

Well, you know, I said something weird on stage. It might have been last night, for the first time in talking about. I performed at Largo, and I've been working out this new hour, you know, new hour of standup because I did the special for From Bleak to Dark, and it took a long time to put that together. Then the thing I said on stage last night, I said, I don't know that if. I don't know that I got into comedy for money. I really think I got into comedy just to be seen, you know, And I think that's true. And I think I never would put it that way.

[Ted Danson]

Being seen, being witnessed.

[Marc Maron]

Yes. And I'm doing, like, you know, some pretty gnarly shit right now about stuff, you know, and I think the last special was really a portal into something, you know, to be able to address grief the way I did, you know, kind of opened up possibilities in terms of, you know, what. What you can and can't make funny in. In a. In a. In a deep way. Not just in a sort of like. Because comedy kind of is also can be dismissive and act as sort of a, you know, kind of a buffer of feelings.

[Ted Danson]

Right, right.

[Marc Maron]

But to sort of go into the. The darkness or into, you know, whatever your personal, you know, sadness or whatever is and really kind of elevate it.

[Ted Danson]

Did you workshop that after Lynn died?

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Did you workshop that special?

[Marc Maron]

Oh, yeah.

[Ted Danson]

For.

[Marc Maron]

For. For a year, a year and a half.

[Ted Danson]

So in the beginning, I'm assuming the emotion was raw.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. No, I. I was doing small shows at Dynasty Typewriter here, and I. Because I. Right on stage, like, you know, Richard and I are Similar like that, you know, you make notes and then you do riff. So what, what I, what would happen is I move through this stuff, you know, and that's how I, I write the act is I have an idea, you know, I, I start talking about it and if it sort of sticks, it sticks in my head and then I kind of build it and hone it. But at the beginning of talking about grief, I, I was doing a, a small theater and the people that came knew it was a workshop. So, you know, I was emotional. I mean, I, I would cry sometimes and, and, and it would take, it took a while to talk about. But I, I said to them, I said, you know, I think there's got to be a way for me to talk about this up here, so let's do it.

[Ted Danson]

But you're in essence rehearsing something that was. Started out being very emotional.

[Marc Maron]

Oh yeah.

[Ted Danson]

And then with rehearsing you become intellectual. So by the time you did the special, were, was the emotion that you started with as raw or had it become something that you were now not acting, but acting?

[Marc Maron]

Kinda. I don't know if it's quite acting. I think that if, you know, if I am true to myself in what I think comedy can do, that I had to eventually frame it that way. If you love comedy and you are a funny person, you're doing it to protect yourself from something or to process something.

[Ted Danson]

Right.

[Marc Maron]

So, I don't know, things become an act. But, you know, not unlike acting as you know that, you know, even when you're acting, you know, you've put those emotions in place, you know, for that character. And, and Right.

[Ted Danson]

My wife's divorcing me. This, this is horrible. But man, it's going to be great for my acting.

[Marc Maron]

No, not quite like that, but let's say you're playing that.

[Ted Danson]

A lot of actors do feel that way. I'm not saying you did, sure.

[Marc Maron]

But it gives you a new, a source of emotions to draw from. But when you're putting a character together and this guy's got to be, you know, sad, you're going to tap into your sadness.

[Ted Danson]

Absolutely.

[Marc Maron]

As a foundation. So, you know, you, you just remove the character from that. And the character is me. The sadness is real. And, and so it doesn't, it's not entirely an intellectual exercise.

[Ted Danson]

Right.

[Marc Maron]

You just learn how to manage the emotions.

[Ted Danson]

Right. But as an actor, I will find. And as if not a lit, not a literal.

[Marc Maron]

Right. Oh really? Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Because if it's literal, I may not be able to tap into. I There's a lot of protection around it. If I imagine one of my kids dying or something like that.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, right.

[Ted Danson]

But if I take something right next door to that.

[Marc Maron]

Sure.

[Ted Danson]

Then I can, you know, allow it to tap in.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. So I think I'm just.

[Ted Danson]

I guess what. Here's what I'm really saying is I cannot imagine. Imagine losing my wife, Mary.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

I cannot imagine losing her suddenly out of the blue.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

I just can't imagine how you. How you had to process that. And.

[Marc Maron]

Well, it was. You know, I think grief is complicated because everyone's going to experience it. And. And I think that the idea of being public about it, but also being respectful of her, you know, of her and. And her family. Yeah. For the most part, I don't really know how they responded to it. But. But the. The. The. One of the more difficult things, you know, outside of losing her was that, you know, we were fairly new relationship. You know, I'd known her for several years, and. And, you know, we had been. But we weren't together that long. And it was during COVID And, you know, I didn't really know her family yet, and. And. And all of a sudden, you know, she's, you know, has gotten sick very quickly and. And ended up in the hospital and. And I. I didn't even have numbers to call. I had to have an ICU nurse get into her phone to get me the numbers of people who I didn't even know which one was the dad. Which one. Yeah. But, you know, there's no way to say anyone's grief is deeper than the others, but. Others that. But what I realized, you know, after she passed was there were people that had a whole history, you know, with this woman and a history I didn't know. And so I'm left with this idea that I had found the perfect partner. And it was a sort of death of possibility, you know, that, you know, of the life we could have had and. And also just being, you know, the guy who was there when this happened, it was. It was. It was very complicated. But. But it's. It's still. The loss of somebody you love is just shattering. And. Yeah, when it happens that quickly and totally unexpected, you don't. There's nothing you can do to control it. But I. I knew a few things, you know, fairly quickly that, you know, it wasn't about me. You know, I'm. I'm not the victim here. This is not, you know, there. There has to be a way to sort of be with this. And. And. And I chose to do it publicly because I, I don't think that, that people. I think we're terrified of death, obviously of our own death and of, of the people we love, but it's inevitable and it's not really part of the cultural conversation. I, I think we do everything we can and, and the very nature of capitalism is designed to, you know, keep us away from thinking about that stuff. It's what fuels it, you know, how can I not think about that?

[Ted Danson]

Right.

[Marc Maron]

How about these chips?

[Ted Danson]

I don't want to at end of life, all of a sudden, have to stop living. I want to be able to make jokes, be, you know, be present, be at the same. I get to be alive until I'm not breathing.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

And I, I don't want people to look at me like I up somehow. Yeah. I don't want to, you know, don't usually. You sit there and you look, he died. Oh, yeah. What did he do? Oh, got it. He did that wrong. I won't do that.

[Marc Maron]

Right, right.

[Ted Danson]

You know, or boy, he up.

[Marc Maron]

No, you find that's true in your world, in your age group.

[Ted Danson]

Which part?

[Marc Maron]

Just that, like, because, like, what they do to up. Yeah, because, like, I find that, like, I'm starting to see people die, obviously. And you have as well. You've lost a lot of friends and some of them we know. But for me, when I see that happening, you know, I have friends who are a bit older than me and, you know, who are sick, and it's just heartbreaking because you realize, like, you know, you very quickly go like, well, well, what did they do? But the thing is, is that you, you get to a certain age and you're in the window of, you know, so as my friend Jerry Stahl says, it's like, you know, something's in the mail for everybody. So you don't know what that is.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

But you do know that it becomes more, it happens more as you get to a certain age window. So I, I, I, I, I generally find that I feel terrible and I don't about someone's, what they're going through and you. And then it's sort of like, well, what do I do? Like, my dad's, you know, in the, in the, he's in, he's in the dimension now, but he's still around, he's still engaged. And I don't call them as much as I should. I mean, theoretically, like, why don't I just call him every day and say, what's up?

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Because I, I don't there's something heartbreaking and hard about it.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

But sometimes you just got to, you know, step up and ride it out, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. But I'm close with your dad. Yeah. Yeah, I'm close enough.

[Ted Danson]

You know, do they.

[Marc Maron]

He lives in New Mexico. My mom's in Albuquerque. In Albuquerque, yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

You know, we've had our hard times, and I. You know, my parents were. Were not great, but they weren't terrible. They were a little selfish. I. I usually did, you know, they.

[Ted Danson]

Weren'T great when you were a kid.

[Marc Maron]

Or not kind of. I mean. Yeah. My dad had, you know, his own, you know, kind of mental health issues. He was a surgeon, and, you know, at different points, he was diagnosed as bipolar or depressed or, you know, narcissistic. My mother had a. A sort of a chronic kind of. I think her eating disorder was her job, and.

[Ted Danson]

Wow.

[Marc Maron]

But. But, you know, she's all right, and. And he's where he's at. I. Usually how I frame my parents is that I don't. I don't look at them as. As parents. I wouldn't go to them as parents. They're just these people with problems I grew up with, you know, and so I.

[Ted Danson]

Which is true.

[Marc Maron]

It is.

[Ted Danson]

There are a couple of nice kids, are doing the best they can.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Ted Danson]

Had you.

[Marc Maron]

That's right. Very young.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Really?

[Marc Maron]

Sure. My mom was 22.

[Ted Danson]

That's young.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. But I mean, it's what they did. And because of that, they're both still around. And I'm 60.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

You know, I'm like. And that. That weird age gap, you know, it switches. Because for years, you're like, my parents are old now you're like, oh, my God. They're only 20 years older than me. I mean, how am I. How'd that happen?

[Ted Danson]

20 years. I know. I look back, Mary and I have been together 30 years, and I go, it just like yesterday. Then I go, well, 30 years from now. Oh. Oh, shit.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

15 years from now.

[Marc Maron]

I know that. Yeah. You can't go. Can't linger there too long. No.

[Ted Danson]

And I think. I don't know if it's true of everybody but baby boomers.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Just think they're entitled.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

To live forever.

[Marc Maron]

Well, you guys, you're a boomer. I'm the tail end. I don't. I don't count myself as a boomer. But you're full in.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, Fully. Is it time to pass the baton?

[Marc Maron]

No. Yeah. The. The great age of entitlement. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I. Yeah. My Parents. But yeah, in terms of him aging and stuff, it's. I. I'll tell you, losing Lynn sort of was. I would. I wouldn't call it a wake up call, but it does sort of bring you into reality.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

You know, in a very brutal way. I mean, you know, you kind of expect your parents to pass. You don't know how you're going to handle it. But all of a sudden, man, you know, people are dying and you. You get to an age where you're like, well, no matter how much I don't want to do this or how I feel or whatever, they're going down. You know, there are people like, for some reason, you know, Saget's death had a huge effect on me. And because it was like. That was another one. It's like, what the happened.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

You know, and he was such a, you know, fun, kind of loving guy. But I'll tell you, man, you know, I've kind of. I tried to. To show up for. For funerals for other people. I didn't used to. I was, you know, I was afraid of it and I didn't want to deal with it. But, you know, when he died and we. No one knew, like, what happened, you know, if you still don't even know what happened.

[Ted Danson]

Right.

[Marc Maron]

But, like, I went to that funeral and I got. I live in Glendale, so I got to drive past Mount Sinai, the cemetery, every day. And like, I couldn't get it out of my mind for like a year that, like, that guy was just at home a week ago, and now he's just in the ground up there. And I drive by it every day. I'm like, oh, my God. It's sobering, but not awful, but I'm gonna be cremated. I have a hard time with the. Just laying there.

[Ted Danson]

Right. I decided that when I had my first mri.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

I was like, oh, no. I know it's silly because I'll be dead, but I'm not. You're not burying me in a box.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

I'll go out. Thank you.

[Marc Maron]

And. And they. And it's like, it's not even organic. You know, like up in Mount Sinai, like, they. They put the casket into. In the. In the hole in the ground is like, fortified with cement. I mean, it's like just this crypt. I mean, like the idea, especially with Jews, there was the wooden box for a reason. So eventually it breaks down and we can re. Enter the ecosystem, not just be in this cement box, this tomb. Like, you go, like, where my grandparents are buried. This has gotten really upbeat.

[Ted Danson]

No, this is what we. This is mine.

[Marc Maron]

Oh yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Like, you know, you start to realize like it's sort of disturbing like it because they're buried in some weird old Jewish cemetery in like Elizabeth, New Jersey, in this industrial area like that got built up after. But there's this little plot land. This is, you know, dead Jews in it. And like, you know, after a Jewish cemetery, especially older ones, you start to, you know, you, if you go visit the grave, you can see the ground is sad and it's like, well, I guess it's given way. They've begun the journey back into the soil, you know.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Firehouse Subs]

Firehouse Subs is partnered with Hot ones. Grab the zesty garlic hook and ladder with crispy garlic chips and the spicy dill hook and ladder with Last Dab Reaper marinated pickles only at Firehouse Subs. Individuals sensitive to spice of the Carolina Reaper pepper should not consume the spicy dill hook and ladder. Limited time at participating Firehouse Subs restaurants.

[Ted Danson]

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[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Got a little Alzheimer's going and. But it works to my advantage. I get a second drink, you know, because now I didn't remember the first. My mother, on the other hand, got pneumonia. She's about 89. And the doctor said, you have to go to the hospital. You're gonna die, Jessica.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

She said, thank God. She couldn't speak because she had this. Yeah, yeah. You know, she had had such bad coughing. She had swallowed something wrong, and so she had lost her voice almost completely. And my sister and I, oh, we're taking her home no longer to try to keep her alive. We're taking her home to be with her while she dies, which took two weeks. But when she got home, she very spiritual, very religious, Catholic, and was very excited about meeting her maker, you know, about going.

[Marc Maron]

See how that works? And when it works, it really works.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

It's like, finally, I get to meet the guy.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Gonna relax for eternity.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. And.

[Marc Maron]

And so did you get a priest of the house?

[Ted Danson]

No, because we were. We had. The hospice lady came and said, well, this is not how this works. Because she, mom thought, oh, I've chosen to die. Let's go. Let's do it. We're off. And the hospice said, no, it's going to take a while for your body to shut down. And this will happen. This will happen.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

But my mom couldn't speak or ask questions. And the hospice person said, and then we'll have you know, an opiate. Morphine.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

When again, she went. My mom went, no. And it was like, oh, my God. And my sister and I played this desperate game of charades with my mother. Try to fix. No. She wanted to burn. And we kept going.

[Marc Maron]

Burn?

[Ted Danson]

Burn what? What do you mean, burn? But we couldn't. She couldn't speak. She couldn't write.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

And what she meant was that in some religions or philosophical thought, if you choose to suffer consciously at the end of your life.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Ted Danson]

Choose to suffer.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Ted Danson]

Feel it all.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

That you can burn off some. Whatever karma, sins, what. However you want to hold.

[Marc Maron]

So she was.

[Ted Danson]

So she wanted the full month.

[Marc Maron]

She was purging.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. That's interesting.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Wow. They just let her burn, huh?

[Ted Danson]

She had not. She had. She had people from the. I think some Catholic order. I can't remember, monks came down and. From Colorado and sang. Evening. She had the passing of her dreams. She really did.

[Marc Maron]

See, now, how is that not amazing?

[Ted Danson]

It was amazing. And I remember watching it last. Last thing. Remember watching her show. And she had no longer was really present. She had about two more days of her body shutting down, but she really wasn't there anymore. And I remember. And I had the night shift. My sister watched her during the day. I watched her at night. And I sat there and every spiritual idea, thought, book, Zen, whatever I had nibbled at or studied went flying out the window.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, wow.

[Ted Danson]

And I realized. Oh, I don't know.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

I really, truly don't. Let's tell the truth.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

You don't know. Yeah. Yeah. She might.

[Marc Maron]

But she will soon.

[Ted Danson]

She will soon. But you have no idea. And it was very humbling. And I. From that moment on, I went to. I'm gonna try to do the best I can every day. And that's my.

[Marc Maron]

Overall. In terms of life.

[Ted Danson]

Yes.

[Marc Maron]

And also just the. I think the hardest thing is just that acceptance. It's like, sure, you don't know, but you might not ever. And. And. And it's inevitable.

[Ted Danson]

Yes.

[Marc Maron]

You know, you just. You know, you get. In terms of spirituality. I don't really think in those terms, but, you know, I'd prefer not to go out slowly as my mind goes away.

[Ted Danson]

Yes.

[Marc Maron]

It'd be nice if I went out pretty quick at choice.

[Ted Danson]

Yes.

[Marc Maron]

You know, and I think about it pretty often, just that the idea of nothingness, you know, I'm doing this big bit about right now about I passed out at the top of a mountain when I was hiking.

[Ted Danson]

You did?

[Marc Maron]

I did. Yeah. Blacked out and I've kind of tied in, you know, death and everything, but. But I was. But the. The essence of the. The experience was that when you black out, I don't know if you've ever passed out, but when you pass out, it's like nothing's happening, right? Like, there's nothing. And if. If you don't wake up, you wouldn't be the wiser. And nothing. It's just nothing. Because when you wake up, you're like, oh, my God, there going on. And I'm like, if that's what happens, I'm okay with it. Do you know what I mean? It's fine because I'm not. I'm not really gonna know, but it. It is sort of, you know, kind of disturbing to just, you know, contemplate your absence, you know, but also, like, you've had parents pass and, you know, when. When Lynn went, you know, what happens really is in the living, is just sort of like, well, what should we do with these shoes? Yeah. I mean, that's what happens. That's the legacy. Like, does anyone want this? Call your sister. Does she want this? All right, so. And that's the horrible thing. And you're like, well, what would the deceased want? Like, nothing. What do they. What do you mean? What do they want?

[Ted Danson]

Jokes on you, not her. Yeah. Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

So do you do spiritual? Yeah. No.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. After afterlife or not. Not afterlife, but how about energy? Have you ever talked to a medium? Have you ever talked to anyone who knows a medium?

[Marc Maron]

No.

[Ted Danson]

Because you've decided something.

[Marc Maron]

I don't. I.

[Ted Danson]

It's bullshit.

[Marc Maron]

No, I mean, I've just realized that, like, I'm not. I don't. I'm not on that search. For some reason, you know, my brother is. Is a little more. You know, he's gone through a lot of, like, what does it mean?

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

What's happening? How do I feel better? And I don't have it in me for some reason, I know, like, when people are like, do you believe in God? I'm like, I don. Know if I give a. Really.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

I mean, I don't know, to me, is like the struggle to accept what is you. You know what I mean? I don't. It seems that the basic payoff is that. Yeah, you. You. It's. It's kind of, you know, sad ultimately. You know, you've done everything you could, and then it's over. But I don't. I don't find any solace in the idea of an afterlife. I. I do. I. I feel like there's A universal order to things. It's kind of baffling and that. I think we're well on the way of up as humans. But I don't, you know, I don't, I, I don't lean on it too much other than I do think I am oddly not optimistic. But, but I enjoy what's good in people and I enjoy the struggle and I, you know, and I, yeah, but I do not think about God. I've meditated a bit and you know, and I've done, you know, I, you know, I was brought up Jewish, which is completely a mystery. I, I was doing a bit about that. What was it? I say, you know, people don't, when people don't really understand Jews, they're, they're sort of like, well, you're Jewish, are you religious? I'm like, no. You know, they go, what is it? Like, do you believe in. Oh no. Yeah, you're a Jew, Are you religious? I'm like, no, I'm a Jew. We don't have to be religious. We're the chosen people.

[Ted Danson]

Right.

[Marc Maron]

You know what I mean? You guys are just going to have to live with that. There's nothing you can do to take that away from know. But then there at other times I've said, well do, do Jews believe in heaven? I'm like, it's not clear to me. I was never told. I'm not, I'm not sure. What about hell? Again, no idea. I, I don't know.

[Ted Danson]

To me that's closer from, with my belief system or whatever is the truth. You know, I, I have, I have talked to mediums, I've been in rooms where you would be hard pressed to explain what just happened if you tried to be logical about it.

[Marc Maron]

Have you seen David Blaine?

[Ted Danson]

Yes.

[Marc Maron]

Well, I mean, I mean is it, was it magic? Was it a sleight of hand? What you're saying, that can't be explained.

[Ted Danson]

No, it was, it was. I mean I'm not going to do the thing. But it was truly, it'd be easy. It's easier for me to just, to believe that's true and not on a God. That there's something else that there. I don't know about something else, but I do believe that energy, just physics does not just magically go away because whatever it is, that's you and your thoughts. That's, that's, that's physics, that's chemistry, that's. Thoughts have energy.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, I don't know the difference.

[Ted Danson]

So energy just disappears when your body stops breathing.

[Marc Maron]

I don't know, I mean, I mean, but fine. That's all fine and good, but whatever you think is going to happen to that energy, you're not going to be like, I'm finally energy.

[Ted Danson]

Here's my point, though. It doesn't fucking matter.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Because the truth is, you got to wake up and live today and try to be nice to people. You know, try to be nurturing, try to be kind, try to be real, try to be truthful. And that job remains the same no matter what your belief system is.

[Marc Maron]

Sure.

[Ted Danson]

No matter what happens or doesn't happen, it's still.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. At different times. I'm prone to mysticism, but, yeah, the idea of being good and, you know, don't create emotional terror.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. Yeah, but that's not even a spiritual thought. It's just like, it feels better.

[Marc Maron]

No, it's. It's. It's a. A trying to live a principled, moral life, but accept that you are not perfect and make mistakes and that, you know, you try to do better or you just turn it over to Jesus. It really depends on who you want to give responsibility for your fucked upness.

[Ted Danson]

I'm embarrassed that I haven't known you for a long time. I. I did your podcast and I thought, this is weird. I didn't know that this existed.

[Marc Maron]

The weird ancient days of early podcasting, when we were all just working out of our homes and our garages.

[Ted Danson]

Right. It was strange.

[Marc Maron]

I did this. I made this.

[Ted Danson]

I know you did, and I'm my fault. And I'm trying to learn from you.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, no, you're doing good.

[Ted Danson]

You're trying to learn. But anyway, I'm so. I'm embarrassed to say that I'm catching up with who you are and. Let me jump in here before you do it.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, I just wanted to put a tag on the last conversation about spirituality. I am prone to ridiculous mysticism or things that transcend coincidence occasionally, and I have to reel myself back in. And I just happen to have one of those today, and it's just like one of these things. And what do you do with this information in terms of energy or in terms of things that are beyond our understanding for some reason? I've had a Traveling Wilbury song stuck in my head, you know, for like, two days. And I don't. I don't even really like them, but, you know, you know, it was okay. I like them all separately, but I'm not particularly fond of Jeff Lynn's production, but that's beside the point. But that song, that. Yeah, I'm So tired of being lonely.

[Ted Danson]

Right.

[Marc Maron]

It was. I was just stuck in my head for a while and. And, you know, I woke up with it in my head, and then I went to the gym and it was playing. Now, do with it what you want. Oh, I'm not saying God's talking to me. I tend to look at those moments as Mark.

[Ted Danson]

He was. He was.

[Marc Maron]

No, I just look at that as, like, well, I'm on the right. I'm in the right groove.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

You know what I mean? Like, it's just an indicator, like. Well, you're a little ahead of it. Okay.

[Ted Danson]

I was going to transist and give you a compliment. Let's stay where we are. We'll get back to you.

[Marc Maron]

No, no, you can do it.

[Ted Danson]

No, no, no, not later. What about Law of Attraction? Right? What about creating your reality? Because the energy you're putting out there attracts, and you do start to create your own reality. Reality. Do you? I. I'm not. You've heard of Law of Attraction, so I won't have to explain.

[Marc Maron]

I don't know if I've heard of it, but I, you know, I understand it, and I think that, like, on some level, you know, that. That that's got to be sort of true. You know, what is our own perception in, you know, how do we process reality? You know, what do we manifest? Yeah, I don't put a lot of thought into that. I'm. I'm kind of a. I'm impulsive in my life and somewhat neurotic in my brain. I think that probably has to be true.

[Ted Danson]

Has to be?

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

The opposite of that is being the victim where everything gets done to you, and it's very mysterious. No, you're not.

[Marc Maron]

No, but I believe that. I think that is true, and I think there is a language outside of something we understand in terms of how we engage as humans. And I think it's, you know, I see it with all animals. I have been in some sort of algorithmic loop of, you know, interspecies animal vids on Instagram, you know, just to, you know, see puppies and ducks and stuff. You're like, well, they get it. You know what I mean? Like, there's just part of me like, you know, these people are like, why are the killer whales attacking boats? Because they're upset with us.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

I mean, they're. And the way animals communicate. So there's got to be this. We have this big brain, and there's a lot happening that we just don't acknowledge or we've shut down. Yeah. And, you know, I believe that's true. I believe there is a frequency of communication and understanding that I don't think it's spiritual. I just think, you know, we've limited ourselves by the context of civilization and whatever the fuck we're living in now is. And, you know, a lot of that's gone away, but I think it's there.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. I think science and spirituality in the purest of sense for both are, you know, right, Right next to each other.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. I mean, I guess they'd have to be. I, again, I, I don't do as much homework as I should. You know, I'm busy trying to figure out what I'm going to eat and what I'm going to say to Ted Danson.

[Ted Danson]

Okay.

[Marc Maron]

Or Joe, Joan Baez came to my house, he had it. And for three days I'm like, I'm.

[Ted Danson]

Gonna say to Joan Baez, listen, I've been in a depression thinking about talking to you because I, I do not stack up. So I become self deprecating and. No, yeah, yeah, no, no, that's me. But let's move on to the compliment. Yeah, you're a really good actor. And I, I shouldn't say that like I'm surprised, but I haven't seen that much of your work and you haven't done that much. You're really good.

[Marc Maron]

Well, thank you.

[Ted Danson]

Genuinely. I, I saw Lynn's film.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, yeah. Sort of Trust.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. A lot of standups do not pass the ball well when they're acting.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

You know, I got the ball and watch this. Yeah, you didn't have an ounce of that. You're really good.

[Marc Maron]

Well, it's a comedy and it was in kind of an oddball, improvisational, you know, comedy. But, you know, there was a, There was beats in there. Like I've had to look, man, you know, it's weird with acting for me because, you know, it's something I always wanted to do and you know, I had a. I did four seasons of my own show on ifc and I knew that because I'm a comic and I'd seen other comics go through this, that the first season I was going to take a hit. I was not going to know what to do with my hands or how to be on a set and it was going to look stiff. And it did. But over time it became a little more comfortable.

[Ted Danson]

Was that all self generated? You said, I'm going to do this. And they said, great.

[Marc Maron]

We pitched a show based on the podcast. You know, it was like a. Yeah, As a comic, you kind of part of the old timey way of thinking was you, you were working towards a show, right, that based around you. I did it on ifc and it was, I thought we did a good job. And it was a scripted show and not many people saw it. It's hard to find even. It's funny because people ask me like, where can I see it? I'm like, I don't know. I think you can get it on itunes. You can buy it maybe. And you know, I'd done a little bit here and there when I was younger. I have a very small part in Almost Famous, you know, which is at the beginning of the podcast where I play the angry promoter. But like, look, with acting, it's taken me a while to understand how you extract, you know, satisfaction out of the process of making film or television. Because it's so like, it's repetitious. There's a lot of waiting. You know, you could wait all day to be. To do three lines. So like, you know, how do you make that satisfying and not think this job is ridiculous? Like, I'm not great in a trailer. I'm not, you know, I can't sit there like, you know, no matter how many shoots I've been on.

[Ted Danson]

You're too smart to be a full time actor.

[Marc Maron]

Well, yeah, but after hour three of the lighting problem, I'm like, what could be the problem?

[Ted Danson]

Right?

[Marc Maron]

No matter how many sets I've been on, it's like, what are they doing? Just turn the thing on, you know, so. And people are like, well, you should read. I'm like, I'm not reading in the trailer. I'm sitting there on a, on a, on a, on a fake leather couch that they've gone out of their way to make uncomfortable. It seems the trailers, you know, I guess when you get to a certain level, maybe you get a nicer couch, but you can't even sleep in the fucking thing anyway. I'm not gonna complain. We live a gifted life. But, but in terms of, of, you know, I studied acting a bit in college. And then, you know, when I was in San Francisco, there was a guy in New York I took from that was kind of a, like a secondary methody guy. And I think his name was Mark Howard, who had a, a studio where he was like the little, you know, the little Meisner of the thing. He said, sit there and you'd go up there and cry with a person that you did a scene with. And he'd be like, okay, let's talk so. So I always wanted to do it, but I think most of my understanding of it in recent years has come from talking to you guys. Like, once I started acting, I would just drill actors and figure out, you know, because. Because you always want to ask him. So. So what is the craft? What is your process? And none of you have an answer because you're embarrassed. No actor's willing to go. Like, to be honest with you, about 70 of. It's just natural, you know, I don't know why. It's a gift. I look good on camera and I listen, you know? So, like, if you're not doing the kind of work where you're, like, immersive.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Like, there's only one or two Merle Streeps. There's one Merle Streep and a few other ones that can do that kind of work, you know, if you're not that, you're getting away with something and you know it.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

So. But you're pretty good.

[Ted Danson]

No, better. My joke is I. I. Sam Malone. That's all I've got. Then Sam Malone became a doctor on Becker. Sam Malone, you know, became a demon.

[Marc Maron]

And you were great in body. He's, you know, you were great in that. And that's the first time I saw you, and that's the first time I noticed you. And that was before Sam Malone.

[Ted Danson]

Good point.

[Marc Maron]

And, you know, you really did it, you know, because, you know, you got like, you know, kind of, like, knotted up William Hurd, like. Yeah. And you're just dancing around doing this thing. And it was. There's a lot of choices there. And I've watched it recently, and it still holds up. And it was real work. It wasn't Sam Malone.

[Ted Danson]

This podcast is looking up.

[Marc Maron]

No, I mean, it's a memorable character and it's always stuck with me. The sort of strange dancing da.

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[Ted Danson]

San Diego is a place that inspires optimism and positivity like no other place. I was born in San Diego at Mercy Hospital. I love optimism and positivity. So it makes perfect sense that I came from San Diego with friendly and down to earth people year round, sunny weather and dynamic city experiences with a small beach town vibe. It's the quintessential beach city. Whether you're soaking up San Diego's rich cultural experiences like the La Jolla Playhouse or catching live music or a Padres game, there's plenty to keep you enriched when you're not enjoying the beach. I love San Diego. I love going down to the docks and watching seaplanes come in and take off. I love the San Diego Zoo. I could go on and on. Happiness is calling. Plan your [e-mail] funded in part with City of San Diego Tourism Marketing District assessment funds. So I'm trying to figure out this podcast thing.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Here's what all I know so far. It's a privilege, genuinely a privilege to sit down for an hour and talk to you. We would never talk like this.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, yeah.

[Ted Danson]

At a party or. I mean, you just can't. And it is a privilege. I've always wanted to know what it's like to be you, to be the other person.

[Marc Maron]

Well, I mean, there's something amazing about that because even like, you know, with my podcast like it is, it is a big part of my social life is that, like, I have these very focused, you know, engaged conversations with amazing artists and people.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And, and it's, it's very deep to me in, in the moment. And I, in my experience with. It is always sort of like, I just try, you know, I want to show up and be respectful, but I, I engage, you know, like the fact that, you know, yesterday I spent an hour and 15 minutes with Joan Baez and I spent. Yeah. And I spent three days kind of like trying to put her together in my mind in terms of how, you know, with the arc of her life and everything. There's a new doc about her and, you know, I'm always terrified and nervous and full of dread before any of them. And I've done like, you know, 1500 of these things and these conversations because, like, I've, you know, I kind of do a method trip with it. You know, I, I had to, I watched the doc, you know, I didn't necessarily resonate with her music as a younger person because I didn't. You. You guys grew up with it.

[Ted Danson]

Right.

[Marc Maron]

But to me, it was like, it felt a little Distant and a little almost perfect, you know, the way she's saying and.

[Ted Danson]

Right.

[Marc Maron]

But, you know, also what represented is all different. And I had to sort of load up. So I watched this documentary, which is very revealing, and she's like 82 or something now. And then after seeing the documentary, I revisit the records. I have the first couple records, and I listened to, you know, I kind of put together the arc of her life that I learned in the doc with the records and how she was feeling at the time of these records. And I kind of immerse myself in her. In, in. In Joan Baez. And then what happens with me in the podcasting is like. Like it's usually the day of me talking to somebody after I've loaded up. Not with questions.

[Ted Danson]

No.

[Marc Maron]

But with a sense of the person.

[Ted Danson]

That's great because when I try to think of questions, I just. I'm not looking forward to it. I'm no longer. But when I did watch your stuff and go, oh, wait, I want to know. Yeah, just that.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. And so what usually happens to me is I'm looking for a way to start, you know, because what is the. What is the thing that. What am I gonna. What's on my mind that's gonna start this conversation?

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Because I know all the stuff, but, you know, I don't want to.

[Ted Danson]

You know, that's your genuinely curious about.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. Or just that I. I think is. It's almost like in my mind, it becomes an emotional through line.

[Ted Danson]

Right, right.

[Marc Maron]

And that usually happens when I take a shower the day of the talk where I'm just sort of like, what. Where am I gonna. What do we. Where do we. Where's the starting point, you know, of this? Do you know what I mean?

[Ted Danson]

I know I'm in trouble when I fantasize asking you a question, then chuckle. Riley, this is all in the shower about whatever it was. And I'll find myself if Mary walks and goes. What are you laughing at? Nothing. An imaginary moment.

[Marc Maron]

Well, yeah, but I mean, that's your. That's an actor's process. But I was going to say about acting, I'm sorry, is that, you know, I learned from all you guys that, you know, I'm not belittling it. I. I think that a lot of acting is a fairly. You know, either you. You're intuitive and you're. You're natural, or you're not.

[Ted Danson]

And you, like, make believe. You gotta, like, make believe.

[Marc Maron]

I think so. But. But you also have to. Yeah. See, I. I don't have that part of it. But. But what I do think a lot of actors are. Are naturals in a lot of ways. And they do. You know, they train and you put in a pro, you get your own prostate. But it's never one process. No, you know, it's just whatever your work is. Your work is. You take a little this, you do a little of that, whatever, you know, experience, it all adds up. But, you know, in. But most people. It was so funny because, you know, like, I remember. Because I remember taking these classes, you know, and. And, yeah, sometimes I. Early on when I was talking to actors and I wanted to understand acting more, you know, I. I was maybe a little snotty, but I remember just, like, things I did in college or some of these acting classes. I remember I was talking to Paul Dano, you know, and, you know, we were kind of getting into it, and, you know, he was loose and open, and I just almost in a. I don't know if I was joking or not. I said, do you ever do animal work? And dude.

[Ted Danson]

Which we did.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. He said, I do.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

We have a completely. Yeah, I do do animal work. And I'm like. And I don't remember what movie it was. So. In this film, was there any animal work in your process? He's like, there was.

[Ted Danson]

Well, he's good. So maybe I should start bringing that back into my life.

[Marc Maron]

I think it was a penguin.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. But I did need to find out why, you know, what made acting great, you know, and what makes it satisfying. And I think with that last film I did to Leslie, which got a lot of attention because there was a sort of. Of grassroots kind of momentum to get Andrea Riseborough nominated, which they did. And it caused a little controversy, but it brought a lot of attention to a very small movie directed by this guy, Michael Morris. He shot it in, like, three weeks on film here in town. It was Middle of COVID And it was just so funny because I didn't want to do it. Like, I read the script, and it's sort of. It takes place in Texas. The thrust of the story is about this woman who was a hopeless alcoholic who ends up in her hometown. And this guy who I play kind of gives her the space to start to rebuild her life a little bit by giving her a job at the hotel I manage. So this is not a guy that's me. It's a Texan. He's a humble guy, a little bit beaten, but innately sort of giving and somewhat codependent. And I read the script this Is you.

[Ted Danson]

What are you talking about?

[Marc Maron]

That is not what I'm known for. But, see, I didn't see that, really. But what I saw was a director asking me to do a part that he couldn't get John Hawks to do or any other fucking cowboy. There's nine, you know, there's 20 guys in Hollywood.

[Ted Danson]

I love. You said John Hawks.

[Marc Maron]

That's great, right?

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. So.

[Marc Maron]

So I'm like. I said to my management, what do you want me for? Who do. Who turned this down? I'm like, this, like, aggravated Jew, you know? Yeah. I'm. You know, I'm sensitive, but, like, this is like. There's guys that could just, you know, sleepwalk through this. This. So I didn't believe that he wanted me. And I was like, I'm not doing it, you know, And I'm still pretty much in grief. And Covid's pretty, like. It's like, all over the place. Heavy protocols. And. And then, like, my manager's like, no, he wants you. I'm like, just stop it. I don't want to do it. And then out of nowhere, Chelsea Handler texts me, like, why don't you meet with my friend Michael Morris, who's directing that movie? I'm like, why is he got. And you don't want to piss her off.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Marc Maron]

So I'm like, all right, you know, I'll talk to him. And so this guy, he's a British guy. He was directed, I think Better Call Saul and some other ones. He's TV director, nice guy. And he gets on the phone with me. I'm like, what do you need me for? And then he says, well, I just. I thought the last season of Marin, my TV show, was great. And you have something. There's an emotional element to you that I think would really work with this. And like, oh, man, he does want me, you know? And like, oh, my God, now what do I do? So, of course I said, well, all right. Okay, so I believe you, but no accents.

[Ted Danson]

So.

[Marc Maron]

And. But. But. But I. Then the other thing I knew was that, like. Like, you know, dude, if you want to do this acting thing, you're going to have to risk, you know, failing. You got. You know, you're going to have to try an accent. You got to try an accent. And I knew that, like, as long as it's not Boston, you might have a shot. Don't do the boss.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Marc Maron]

There's no way you can.

[Ted Danson]

Too hard.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. And. And so I'm like, all right, well, I gotta do this. And the Only reason why I felt like I could do it is I'd interviewed James Caan, you know, shortly before he died. And he's like a ball busting maniac. And at the time, it was on Zoom, and he was old and he didn't know where to look, and he was wheezing and yelling at me, but it was great. So. But I had watched all his old movies, like real old shit. And there's a movie called the Rain People, which was Coppola's first movie. And he plays this kind of like, you know, mentally challenged person who was like the guy with the broom at the college that he played football at. And he had an accident, but he had. He was doing an accent. And then I watched a couple other movies, and he tried it a couple other times, but he never really do it that well. And then I realized, like, no, it doesn't fucking matter. Really?

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

You know, just try it. You know, the worst thing that happened is it goes in and out, but your performance will still have emotional integrity. But I'm not James Caan. But, like, he did it, and there was no reason that they think that he could do that. So. So I. I meet with this dialect coach, and I always think, this is a funny story, but I really think he know the reference. I can't remember names.

[Ted Danson]

Tim. Monica.

[Marc Maron]

No woman. She's real good. Real good. You know, she works with Rockwell and some other people. And I tell her, all right, I'm nervous about this. She goes, look, there's not really a Texan accent. There's a lot of different accents. Some of them are southern, some of them are. But there's not really a one Texas accent. But I think we should do Lubbock. And I'm like, okay, Lubbock sounds great. And then. So she sends me some links, and I look at two of these links, and they're just. They're not even televised interview. They're like, you know, the Grammys association kind of backstage interviews with Mac Davis. Right. And I'm like, this is the only example of Lubbock available on the Internet is these Mac Davis talking videos. An old Mac Davis talking. Because he was from Lubbock.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And I'm like, all right. And then she gives me like, the. The. You know, the. The sort of dialectic, you know, diet. What do you call them? The keys. The pronunciations.

[Ted Danson]

Phonetics.

[Marc Maron]

Phonetics. Oh, the phonetics of the accent. So I'm like, all right, I'm gonna do this work. Fuck it. You know, I'm gonna do this work, like, I, you know, I know that I can listen. I know that I can engage. I know I can be present in a scene. I can take direction. So this is the work, is that, you know, you know, before each scene, you know, make your choices and. And get, you know, and figure out how to say this. And I did it. You know, I did it. And I think it did all right. I did all right.

[Ted Danson]

And I'll bet you. You were. I. I found. When I did Fargo.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

And I had. I'm terrible at acting.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

So I, you know, I reduce everybody down to my level. They're from Arizona.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

Coincidentally. They're from Arizona.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

You know.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Ted Danson]

But I had to work so hard that I knew that every syllable of that script.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Ted Danson]

And it also informed my character. Did you find out that all the work you put into the dialect was actually beneficial to how you acted?

[Marc Maron]

Well, yeah, because, you know, it's a different frequency.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

Like, you can't just speak freely. You know, there's a deliberate.

[Ted Danson]

Yes.

[Marc Maron]

There's an intention to it. And because of that, it informed the character. Because it slowed me down.

[Ted Danson]

You're fucked. You're an actor. You're an actor. You know, you can do podcasts all you want. You're an actor.

[Marc Maron]

Thank you. I'll take it.

[Ted Danson]

I remember I did One Day, Two Days in Saving Private Ryan.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

But I always thought it's kind of weird to be immersed in this astounding war movie. And I heard some people say, oh, that's Ted Danson. Immediately, you're out of the story. You know?

[Marc Maron]

You know, well, that's a. I guess that's a liability of being.

[Ted Danson]

Having baggage.

[Marc Maron]

Well, being, you know, a popular character that everyone knows. Yeah. But the other thing I. That I learned that funny about actors, because I talked to Ethan Hawke, who I think can really do it when he sets his mind to it.

[Ted Danson]

He's spectacular.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. But we were talking. When I interviewed him, he was talking about Training Day, you know, with Denzel. But, like, literally, he told me, he said. I said, well, how'd you prepare for that? He's like, I watched all of Denzel's movies as if they were game tapes. And he was on a football team because he was like, how am I not going to get eaten alive.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

By Denzel Washington? Is. Was his primary concern. How am I going to hold my own? So he just watched Denzel and got hang. He. He saw all his tricks.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

And, you know, and figured it out. And I thought that was amazing.

[Ted Danson]

If you don't do that. And you're working with some big guy who especially you admire.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

You go to church.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

And all of a sudden you're totally subservient.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Ted Danson]

You know.

[Marc Maron]

Right.

[Ted Danson]

Like a puppy, as opposed to smacking them around like you're supposed to.

[Marc Maron]

Does that happen to you?

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, a lot. I'm a journeyman, man. I'm not, you know, the word artist never gets dangled in front of me. Can I go back for a second to what was. I mean, Joan Baez? That's astounding. But so was President Obama.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

How did that play out? You and your garage?

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was like, you know, with a.

[Ted Danson]

Bunch of Secret Service.

[Marc Maron]

Sure. It was a. Like, it's a story I told a lot, but it was like, you know, it was a different interview because, you know, I had to create questions. We had a tie down. I didn't want to get into politics. I wanted to do a personal interview, and we had to address some stuff. The entire event was of its own. You know, a lot of preparation had to go into it. You know, there were Secret Service that had to come a couple weeks before they had to figure out what the perimeter was for, protection. I asked my neighbor if we could put snipers on his roof and all that stuff. I know it was a little. I remember I said to him, like, are you nervous? And he said, if I was nervous about this, we'd all be in trouble. You know. And then, like, I tried to. I had this idea about the presidency that was cynical and the presidency, or the general, you know, it is a civil servant job. And in my mind, you know, in terms of, you know, how, you know, lobbying works and how politics works, I'd always, you know, thought of the presidency as the highest level of middle management.

[Ted Danson]

Right. You know, and you said this through.

[Marc Maron]

I kind of did, yeah. And it didn't. I don't think it quite landed. Really.

[Ted Danson]

Didn't see the humor.

[Marc Maron]

No. But. But, yeah, that was it. That was an exciting day. There's very few interviews that were not surprising to me, really, if you had to give up.

[Ted Danson]

Do you consider music part of your. This is what I do in life. I do music as well, or is that. I do a little bit?

[Marc Maron]

Well, no, I've always played, but, you know, in the last few years, I've. I've. I've sort of stepped out and, you know, played with people publicly and sang publicly, but it's still really a hobby. It was always sort of a dream, but it was not a dream I would pursue because it's a. It's a tough one.

[Ted Danson]

If you had to give up. If you had to give up podcasts.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah, no problem.

[Ted Danson]

No problem.

[Marc Maron]

Yeah. Really, I think. I don't know, it's so much part of my social life. Yeah, no, it's not. It's not that it's no problem. But I mean, like, you know, I, you know, I'm a comedian and I'm. And, you know, and I. And I enjoy doing. I'm starting to enjoy things. You know, I don't know how that happened. And I like, I love doing the podcast. And again, it's always surprising to me. It's never. Never feels like a job, really. And again, it is a big part of my social life. And. And, you know, we've held our audience for a long time, and we're still kind of looked at as a. As an important podcast and one that people like listening to. And I think I do a thing. A way that people don't. I'm kind of singular in some ways in the style, and I love it. But I think that if it ever started to. You get to a point where for years we were not repeating guests, and after 1500 people. But oddly, the writer strike and the actor strike kind of brought in different types of people.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

I mean, I interviewed Naomi Klein, who's a genius, the writer, the leftist writer, and Jeff Charlotte, and, you know, I had Larry Charles in there. And, you know, like, I'm still engaged with it, but I think that, you know, as we get older, I. I still believe somehow that, you know, stopping is possible. I. Sometimes I look at people your age or older, and I'm like, what are you doing? Yeah, take it easy, will you? But. But I think that's probably naive leave. I think that, you know, if you're there. Yeah. If you're a worker, you're gonna work.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Marc Maron]

You're gonna want to work.

[Ted Danson]

A couple things. Mary sends her regards and said that it was her favorite interview she's ever done.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, that's nice. Yeah, I. I love it.

[Ted Danson]

I also happened to have interviewed her a few days ago, so that sucks to hear.

[Marc Maron]

But. And.

[Ted Danson]

And one more thing. You are. You are so kind to come on this podcast. You are a very wise, kind, sweet soul.

[Marc Maron]

Thanks.

[Ted Danson]

I hope that doesn't suck to hear. No, but I really admire you and I'm really grateful that you came.

[Marc Maron]

Oh, absolutely. I mean, you're. You're Ted Danson.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. But that. That does.

[Marc Maron]

That means a lot to me.

[Ted Danson]

That's great. When I'm looking in the mirror, I really enjoy being. But other than that, there's not much.

[Marc Maron]

That was my pleasure.

[Ted Danson]

Thanks, man.

[Marc Maron]

Thanks for.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, appreciate it. Who has to pee the most, you or me?

[Marc Maron]

You probably.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. Thank you so much to Mark Maron. It was an honor to have you on the show. Thank you. Check out his hit podcast WTF with Mark Marin and his HBO special From Bleak to Dark. That's all for this episode. Special thanks to our friends at Team Coco. Just a reminder, you can always watch the full length videos of these episodes by visiting YouTube.com teamcoco as always, subscribe on your favorite podcast app and give us a great rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Why not? See you next time. Where everybody knows your name.

[Marc Maron]

You've been listening to Where Everybody Knows yous Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson Sometimes. The show is produced by me, Nick Leo. Executive producers are Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross and myself. Sarah Fedorovich is our supervising producer. Our senior producer is Matt Apodaca. Engineering and mixing by Joanna Samuel with support from Eduardo Perez. Research by Alyssa Grohl. Talent booking by Paula Davis and Gina Batista. Our theme music is by Woody Harrelson, Anthony Genn, Mary Steenburgen and John Osborne. We'll have more for you next time. Where everybody knows your name. Every day our world gets a little more connected, but a little further, further apart. But then there are moments that remind us to be more human. Thank you for calling Amica Insurance. Hey, I was just in an accident. Don't worry, we'll get you taken care of. At Amica, we understand that looking out for each other isn't new or groundbreaking. It's human. Amica empathy is our best policy.